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School Holidays' Easy Beany Brownie Bites

Its school holidays. And it’s raining… again! These
two simple statements bring shivers of dread to mothers around the world…

So what does any domesticated-wannabe-mummy-of-two do
with her five year old? Well, I’ll tell you, she does stuff that she
wants to do. That’s right. A very wise lady (Maureen, Petal, that’s you) gave
me this advice just this weekend. She said, “…do stuff with your kids that you
love to do… they will feel your passion and see your smile, its authentic...”. It
makes sense, right?

(But, hey, you’ve sometimes also got to do things that
they like to do, like crawling into their man-made fort for a tea party
with a grasshopper (one-legged) and the ever growing ant colony on the grass,
which is now starting to make you itch. Or playing Teacher-Teacher, and you’re
the one being sent to the naughty chair all the time.)

Well, Maureen, I took this lovely piece of advice and
gave it a bash.

I knew straight-off that my best way of
spending the day indoors is to bake, elbow deep, in all things butter! So I called
My Little Darling downstairs, “Pumpkinfritter, Mummy’s baking, wanna make some
mud pies?” and she comes running, eagerly anticipating the very important job
of ‘Egg Cracking’.

I am always in the kitchen. Sometimes it feels
like I never leave the damn place. When Im in the kitchen, I’m in The Zone. A dream
world of cinnamon and vanilla or cumin and coriander. I am totally present
when I am doing what I love. And that, I think, is the key. So if I can
impart some of that authentic lovlieness (a.k.a. sharing My Happy) onto My
Little Dumplings today, then give Mummy a big gold star on her Rewards Chart of
Great-Mummyness (stuck firmly on the back of my toilet door).

Easy Beany Brownie Bites, this week, is especially
dedicated to all the Great Mummy’s out there looking to share with their Little
Monsters, I mean, Munchkins, that involves lots of love, fun, creativity, most
importantly yumminess, and even some maths!

I found this recipe years ago when I first started
looking for no-wheat recipes, and saved it under, Recipes to Try One Day.
It was a huge success, not just because it was tasty and moreish (it is soft,
crunchy and powwow all at the same time), but because it was easy-peasy, and
even more interesting because of its claim to be healthy (it’s loaded
with protein and fibre and is grain free), so guess what - one less thing to
feel guilty about!

Since then I have played around with the recipe
(because I cannot just let it alone), substituting the nuts, and swopping some
stuff that, I swear, takes it from Good to OMG! and WTF? and OTW! (Out of This
World - I just made that one up, I think)

Im hoping this is how My Little Muffin will remember
me; in my apron, flipping pancakes (a pan in each hand nogal - yes, Im
dreaming) while she squirts the lemon and sprinkles the cinnamon sugar… And did
you know the rule with pancakes is: the first one is always devoured by the
cook and her trusty assistants, just to check the consistency and, you know,
make sure it’s not poisonous? I get all warm and fuzzy inside when I remember
being a little girl, cracking eggs and spilling milk with my mom. It’s the
stuff memories are made of!

Now go, Great Mummy’s! Go and make yummy memories with
your Little Sausages, they’ll thank you when they’re big (bangers)…

Easy Beany Brownie Bites

1 can beans (I used Butter Beans but any should be fine) drained
and rinsed well

3 large eggs

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ tsp instant coffee (I used Decaf)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar (I used Xylitol)

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup chopped soft nuts (like walnuts or flaked almonds) -
Optional

Handful whole nuts (I used salted macadamias) for decorating on
top - Optional

Place
beans, eggs, melted butter, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla, coffee and sugar
in the bowl of your food processor and blend until smooth.

Remove
the blade and gently stir in chocolate chips and nuts if using.

Pour into
your prepared pan, using a spatula to spread evenly. (Don’t forget
the lick the spoon)

Top with whole
nuts (try and space them so each square will have at least one whole nut
on top). In this pic below I placed my brownie cutter in the batter before
cooking (to see where to put the nuts), but I recommend holding the cutter
over the batter to guestimate where to place the nuts but not to
cook the batter with the cutters in, it makes it messier to remove after.
Rather insert the cutter after cooking and cooling time. And if you are using a normal or square shallow cake pan, ignore all of this and just cut into whatever size/shapes you want at the end...

Bake for
30 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Let cool completely in
pan before cutting into squares and then you can sink your teeth into as
many as you can fit into your mouth…

p.s. these freeze well, cut into squares and placed in airtight container.

This makes four
½ cup ramekins. It’s coconut flour based (although not 'coconutty' in flavour at
all) and quite filling. I’ve been known to make a bigger one for me (all in the
name of science, of course) and, well,
let’s just say my eyes were bigger than my tummy. For an afternoon snack, with
an espresso or cup of tea, a small ramekin is perfect (and then you have
one left for tomorrow, and the next day too). Now, because I
made these on a random Monday afternoon after picking up my brood from
gymnastics, I didn’t have the time, nor inclinat…

If you are like me, and your gut gets into a knot at the very site of cream or too much milk, then this recipe is for you, baby!

Or, if you can handle dairy (which is annoying), but you have a cold or a chesty cough and you don't want to exacerbate your symptoms, then this warm, soft and velvety custard is just the thing to make you feel so much better.

Here you can see it thickened beautifully in the fridge by the next day. If you can tolerate butter, I have added it in at the end, but this is not necessary. It does, I find, help to mellow out the coconut cream. Now I actually lurve all things coconut, in all its beautiful variations, but in custard I'm looking for a softer, more VANILLA flavour... and, by Jove, I think I've done it! This will now be my go-to recipe for all things custard related, and can be pimped and…

This is a lovely no bake treat
you can make with your kids in no time. It’s great for the holidays
and the kids ask to make them for parties, especially. And the best part is… you can
choose which ingredients suit your taste and diet preference. We opted for blueberries over
those awfully sweet, and artificially red, glazed cherries usually found in traditional
Rocky Road. Blueberries, are softly sweet and slightly sour. These mini marshmallows are not sugar-free but I allow them in small quantities. You can omit them
(or even make your own sugar free marshmallows?) but I find their soft texture
adds a lovely chewiness to the bite. My four year old complained,
saying the nuts were a bit too hard for him to chew, so together, we made a separate
batch with just blueberries and marshmallows, and these were still lovely, but
trust me, if your dentures can handle the crunch, the salted nuts and sesame
seeds help cut through the sweetness and enhance the chocolatey flavour to the
max! I keep a st…